5 Nov 2011

No, but 18-year-old Bria Sandoval wants to be. In a quest for
independence, her neglected art, and no-strings-attached hookups, she
signs up for a guided tour of Central America—the wrong one. Middle-aged
tourists with fanny packs are hardly the key to self-rediscovery. When
Bria meets Rowan, devoted backpacker and dive instructor, and his
outspokenly humanitarian sister Starling, she seizes the chance to ditch
her group and join them off the beaten path.

Bria's a good girl trying to go bad. Rowan's a bad boy trying to
stay good. As they travel across a panorama of Mayan villages, remote
Belizean islands, and hostels plagued with jungle beasties, they
discover what they've got in common: both seek to leave behind the old
versions of themselves. And the secret to escaping the past, Rowan’s
found, is to keep moving forward.

But Bria comes to realize she can't run forever, no matter what
Rowan says. If she ever wants the courage to fall for someone
worthwhile, she has to start looking back.

Kirsten Hubbard lends her artistry into this ultimate backpacker
novel, weaving her drawings into the text. Her career as a travel writer
and her experiences as a real-life vagabond backpacking Central America
are deeply seeded in this inspiring story.